Committee Approves Bills Addressing ADA Concerns

Package focuses on physicals for emergency responder applicants

The Senate Local Government Committee today approved a package of bills introduced by Senator Bob Robbins (R-50) to bring municipal law provisions governing pre-hiring examinations of emergency responders in cities, towns, townships, and boroughs into compliance with the federal Americans with Disabilities Act.

The ADA clearly prohibits requiring a medical examination of all applicants before an offer of employment. However, the ADA does allow medical examinations and inquiries with certain conditions.

"A number of communities have already been subjected to litigation because of problems in the language of current state statutes," said Senator Robbins, who also serves as Chairman of the Pennsylvania Local Government Commission, a bipartisan legislative service agency. "My bills would amend the police officers and firefighters civil service statutory provisions to ensure those laws are interpreted and applied by municipal officials in a manner that is in compliance with federal and state anti-discrimination laws."

Senate Bills 1363 thru 1368 deal with ADA Compliance: SB 1363 (Paid Firemen Civil Service Employee Law); SB 1364 (Local Police Officers Civil Service Employee Law); SB 1365 (Borough Code); SB 1366 (1st Class Township Code); SB 1367 (3rd Class City Code); and, SB 1368 (Firemen, Civil Service in 3rd Class Cities Law).

The bills in the package would meet ADA requirements by:

Clearly delineate a difference between prohibited pre-offer "medical examinations" and permissible job-related "physical and agility tests" that may occur at anytime during the testing process.
Clearly define "medical examinations" in accordance with federal law, include "psychological medical examinations," and specify that medical examinations may not occur until a conditional offer of employment has been made.
Remove the ability of a municipality to disqualify a candidate, at the pre-offer stage, on the basis of a "disability," because of past or current addiction to alcohol, or past addiction to drugs. Current illegal use of narcotics is not a protected disability, thus a prospective employer may ask questions related to current use of illegal drugs.
Clearly specify where in the process "medical examinations" may occur in relation to the written examination, when veteran's preference points are to be awarded, and how long eligibility lists may be in effect.

The Committee also approved Senate Bill 1369, also sponsored by Senator Robbins, legislation to insure representation of Clerks of Orphans' Courts on the statewide County Records Committee. The County Records Committee is a 15-member panel whose members are appointed for a four-year term by the Governor and are vested with the power to promulgate guidelines for the disposal of defined "county records" in 2nd - 8th class counties.

Contact:

Michael Hengst
(717) 787-1322